BRENTWOOD, Tenn. — Tennessee State University men's basketball redshirt-senior
Carlos Marshall Jr. was named to the All-OVC Preseason team after missing the entire 2020-21 season due to injury. The Tigers were picked to finish fifth in the conference as announced by the league office Tuesday morning.
In its final season in the conference, Belmont picked up 17 of a possible 20 first-place votes to tally 161 total points in being picked first. Morehead State picked up the other three first-place votes and 141 points in being ranked second, just ahead of Murray State (136 points). Southeast Missouri was tabbed fourth (101) and followed by Tennessee State (84), Austin Peay (76), SIUE (65), Tennessee Tech (62), Eastern Illinois (43) and UT Martin (34).
The Tigers dealt with injuries last year that ultimately limited the team to three Conference wins. Included among those injuries was 2019-20 All-OVC selection
Carlos Marshall Jr., who averaged 11.8 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists/game in his debut season with the team (when TSU won 18 total games) but missed all of 2020-21. He is joined this year by fifth-year forward
Shakem Johnson (11.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, an OVC-best 60.7 field goal percentage) and second-year guard
Marcus Fitzgerald Jr. (12.5 points/game including scoring 32 points against SIUE, the second-most by a freshman nationally last year).
Head coach Brian "Penny" Collins, now in his fourth year with the program, welcomes 10 newcomers, including a pair of transfers who have had previously stints at OVC schools in
Dedric Boyd (Eastern Kentucky via Illinois State) and
Jalen Dupree (Murray State via Samford). Among the freshmen is
Hercy Miller, who played at Minnehaha Academy with the No. 1 ranked high school player in the country.
2021-22 OVC Men's Basketball Predicted Order of Finish
(Selected by OVC Head Basketball Coaches and Communication Directors)
| Order of Finish |
Points |
| 1. Belmont (17 first-place votes) |
161 |
| 2. Morehead State (3) |
141 |
| 3. Murray State |
136 |
| 4. Southeast Missouri |
101 |
| 5. Tennessee State |
84 |
| 6. Austin Peay |
76 |
| 7. SIUE |
65 |
| 8. Tennessee Tech |
62 |
| 9. Eastern Illinois |
43 |
| 10. UT Martin |
34 |
9 points awarded for a first-place vote, 8 for second, etc. - Coaches and SID's could not vote for their own teams
2021-22 Preseason All-Ohio Valley Conference Men's Basketball Team
Preseason OVC Co-Player of the Year: Grayson Murphy, Belmont
Preseason OVC Co-Player of the Year: Johni Broome, Morehead State
| NAME, SCHOOL |
POS. |
HT. |
WT. |
CL. |
HOMETOWN |
KEY STATS FROM 2020-21 |
| Johni Broome, Morehead State *! |
F |
6-10 |
235 |
R-Fr. |
Plant City, Fla. |
13.8 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 1.9 bpg |
| Tevin Brown, Murray State *& |
G |
6-5 |
175 |
R-Jr. |
Fairhope, Ala. |
14.7 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 73 3's |
| Jr. Clay, Tennessee Tech @%?^ |
G |
6-0 |
170 |
R-Jr. |
Chattanooga, Tenn. |
17.3 ppg, 3.7 apg, 1.8 spg |
| Chris Harris, Southeast Missouri |
G |
6-3 |
205 |
R-Jr. |
Antioch, Ill. |
12.3 ppg, 3.4 apg, 2.3 rpg |
| Carlos Marshall Jr., TSU %# |
G |
6-6 |
210 |
R-Sr. |
Memphis, Tenn. |
11.8 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 51 3's (2019-20) |
| Grayson Murphy, Belmont *& |
G |
6-3 |
190 |
Sr. |
Franklin, Tenn. |
11.0 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 5.7 apg |
| Nick Muszynski, Belmont *&$^ |
C |
6-11 |
245 |
Sr. |
Pickerington, Ohio |
15.0 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 58.6 FG% |
| Skyelar Potter, Morehead State ! |
G |
6-3 |
198 |
R-Jr. |
Bowling Green, Ky. |
12.0 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 44.0 FG% |
| Luke Smith, Belmont ! |
G |
6-0 |
170 |
Sr. |
Knoxville, Tenn. |
12.6 ppg, 3.0 apg, 2.0 spg, 78 3's |
| KJ Williams, Murray State *& |
F |
6-10 |
245 |
R-Jr. |
Cleveland, Miss. |
15.6 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 56.7 FG% |
* - 1st Team All-OVC Team in 2020-21 |
@ - 2nd Team All-OVC in 2020-21 |
! - OVC All-Newcomer Team in 2020-21 |
| & - 1st Team All-OVC in 2019-20 |
% - 2nd Team All-OVC in 2019-20 |
# - OVC All-Newcomer Team in 2019-20 |
| $ - 1st Team All-OVC in 2018-19 |
? - 2nd Team All-OVC in 2018-19 |
^ - OVC All-Newcomer Team in 2018-19 |
